Hi,
I would say it's unlikely a spring inside a lifter is broken.

get a good 'hydraulic lifter cleaner additive' and put some in the oil.
It's not uncommon at all for them to get gooked up a bit ..
I normally put some cleaner type additive in any waterboxer that has
only oil in it, or has sticky lifters.
Marvel Mystery Oil is one , of many.

Doesn't sound like you do this, but if you fire it up, like to move it,
say a minute of running.
Do that several times and it will contribute to lifters being noisy.

I don't recommend letting it idle cold for a good while.
Start gently ......drive off gently in about 30 seconds ..
with some load on it , it will warm up more easily.
Idling is not good for engines really ..especially cold.

Especially cold.
Scott
www.turbovans.com

On 9/10/2012 8:10 PM, KKALnSF wrote:
> Hello,
>
> We have an  87 Syncro with about 70k miles.
>
> When we leave the van unused for several days or more, upon start-up a
> loud ticking emanates from the right side of the engine.
> If we let it idle for 5-10 minutes, the sound slowly disappears.
>
> We have noticed the sound has become more frequent over the last year.
> We have noticed the problem appears to be less frequent after we change
> the oil
> We have noticed this does not seem to occur when the engine is warm.
>
> Last weekend we noticed the ticking seemed more like a clacking which
> was  louder than previously and it took 30 minutes of low speed driving
> for the noise to slowly subside.
>
> I made an inquiry with our local mechanic, who didn't hear the noise but
> believes the spring inside the lifter is broken.  I'm not sure how that
> could be the case if the noise goes away after the engine warms up.
>
> Has anyone dealt with this type of noise?
>